I GOT A VISA CARD TODAY! =D

[Breine]

Congrats It hasn't been that long since I got mine either so I understand the excitement - getting a Visa card comes with a certain type of freedom like the sudden opportunity to buy stuff on the internet... Very thrilling

[Peegee]

Getting loans is dependent on your salary, unless you have terrible credit like russel.

[Raistlin]

You don't want to be checking your credit report every week. That will look bad. Once a year won't hurt anything, likely.

Bascially, the more times your credit report is looked at, for whatever reason, the more it will look like you are desperate for money or credit. This makes the lenders less likely to want to give you money, or credit.

RSL is correct. You shouldn't look at your credit report much - I'd reccomend not even once a year. Getting your credit checked a lot actually hurts your credit a bit, and it also makes lenders more wary. So yeah, basically, don't check it yourself if at all possible, and just get it run when you need to (when you're looking to borrow money).

My mom is an accountant and I used to work at a used car dealership where I ran credit reports on people, so I've learned a bit about them.

Having a credit card is a good way to build credit, though. And a credit/debit combo card (like a Visa check card) doesn't help to build credit, even if it can be used like a credit card.

[Leeza]

Congratulations on getting a card that will in the end cause you many stressful months as you try to pay off your immense debt.

Only if you overspend. I think I have almost every credit card available, some with over a $10,000 limit, but I pay them off every month. If you can't do that, they you shouldn't use your cards because the interest they charge will kill you.